Urban Water Supply

Dungog Council votes against Mayor and Tillegra proposal

jfield — 2010-07-21T04:23:47Z

Commenting on the 6 to 2 vote at last night's meeting and the subsequent vote reaffirming Council's opposition to the $477 million dam, Dr Kaye said: "This is another body blow to the Tillegra proposal.

"Councillor Wall's attempts to run political cover for the Keneally government's dam have left him isolated and exposed.

"He has little choice but to step down. If he remains in office he will end his term as a lame duck mayor with no authority.

"Councillor Wall is paying the price for defying community opposition to the dam.

"Labor MP for Newcastle and enthusiastic Tillegra promoter Jodi McKay should pay careful attention to Mayor Wall's fate.

"The Keneally government has relied on Glenn Wall's defiance of Council's October 2009 resolution against Tillegra to perpetuate the myth that the local Dungog community was largely in support of the $477 million.

"Their cover is now gone.

"Tillegra is opposed throughout the Hunter, including in the community that was supposed to be welcoming the massive dam.

"Councillor Wall and his small group of Tillegra boosters have failed in their attempt to convince the community that short-lived construction jobs would compensate for the loss of on-going employment in agriculture.

"Council's vote reflects the overwhelming concern that Tillegra will not only damage the local environment but would also undermine the region's economic future.

"Jodi McKay should take the very clear message coming from Dungog Council back to state Cabinet. They should think again about their support for the dam that very few people want," Dr Kaye said.

For more information: John Kaye 0407 195 455

Dungog Council move on Mayor for failure to represent on dam

jfield — 2010-07-21T04:47:14Z

Commenting on the no confidence motion in Councillor Wall to be moved this evening, Dr Kaye said: "Newcastle Labor MP Jodi McKay's public support for Councillor Wall is hardly surprising.

"The Mayor has been running political cover for a dam that is unpopular and damaging to the local community, economy and environment.

"At its October meeting last year Dungog Council voted that it could not support the proposed Tillegra dam project as detailed in Hunter Water’s EAR, and to call on the state government to review the social, economic and environmental costs and to commission an Upper House inquiry.

"Only Glenn Wall and one other councillor voted against this motion.

"The Mayor has failed in his duty to act on the substance and spirit of the council's resolution.

"Dungog is at risk of being foisted with a massive dam that is unwanted and will inflict untold damage on the local economy.

"The Keneally government is desperate to keep Glenn Wall in his key job to help them push ahead with Tillegra.

"Ms McKay's intervention is another example of her government's callous disregard for the local consequences of this dam. She does not speak for the people of Dungog or the Williams River Valley.

"It is time for the local council to be led by a mayor who stands up for jobs and the environment. If Cr Wall cannot or will not represent the people of Dungog Shire, he should stand aside.

"Tonight's vote is a chance for the councillors to put in place a Mayor who will provide it," Dr Kaye said.

For more information: John Kaye 0407 195 455

Hunter Water's Tillegra spin fails to cut through

jktemp — 2010-06-30T23:09:20Z

('40% oppose Tillegra dam' Newcastle Herald, 1 July 2010, http://bit.ly/nh100701T)

Dr Kaye said: "The community is too smart to fall for Hunter Water's spin. "Almost twice as many people have seen through the utility's propaganda as have fallen for the myth that the Hunter needs a new dam. "The case against the dam is winning and that is bad news for the Labor incumbents in the Hunter.

"Jodi Mackay is on a thin margin in Newcastle. Her dogged support for Tillegra despite the mounting evidence against it is rapidly becoming an electoral liability. Along with Frank Terenzini and the other Hunter Labor MPs, she would be well advised to go back to Sydney and start talking on behalf of her constituents.

"Hunter Water has failed to hoodwink the community. Three years of spin have done nothing to hide the stark reality of an unnecessary, expensive and damaging dam.

"The message is loud and clear. The community knows that the dam is not needed, that it will be very expensive and that it will devastate the local environment and the Hunter estuary and wetlands.

"Premier Kristina Keneally desperately needs a political escape hatch. She should immediately call a halt to the planning process and commission an independent inquiry into the need for a new dam.

"It would be political lunacy to ignore this poll and it would be immoral to push ahead with a project that is supported by less than a quarter of the voters.

"The Keneally government is increasingly isolated on Tillegra. The Greens, local residents, the environment movement, the Coalition and the community are opposed. It's time for the Premier to ditch Hunter Water and join the opposition to this white elephant," Dr Kaye said.

For more information: John Kaye 0407 195 455

Hunter Water sanitises wetlands recommendations

jktemp — 2010-06-22T00:44:16Z

(See 'Report on Tillegra Dam 'was doctored'', SMH 22 June, page 4, http://bit.ly/smh100622T)

An email uncovered through a Hunter Environment Lobby freedom of information request showed that a senior Hunter Water official was able to shift the focus away from the Ramsar-listed areas in the Hunter River estuary, remove any mention of the need for on-going monitoring and delete references to the absence of a Limits of Acceptable Change analysis.

Dr Kaye said: "While it is common practice for environmental assessment consultants to work closely with the proponents, in this case the recommendations were completely re-written by Hunter Water to suit their own purposes. "Hunter Water sanitised the original recommendations. The integrity of the Assessment Report has been badly compromised.

"Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett and Planning Minister Tony Kelly cannot have any faith in recommendations that were effectively written by Hunter Water, not a so-celled independent consultant.
"They will have little choice but to call for their own analysis to sort out the competing claims.

"Anything that could be interpreted as damage to the internationally significant wetlands was removed. New material that supports the proposal was added. Important issues of uncertainty and monitoring were deleted.

"The recommendations have been gutted to help Hunter Water ram through Tillegra Dam, despite the substantial risk that the $477 million project would destroy the wetlands. "The crucial wetlands assessment is now known to be thoroughly compromised.

"No Minister could safely issue a consent for the project on the basis of recommendations that were effectively written by the proponent," Dr Kaye said.

For more information: John Kaye 0407 195 455

Coalition privatisation agenda is expensive and unnecessary

jktemp — 2010-06-10T05:46:29Z

Commenting on Mr O'Farrell's 2010 budget response speech, Dr Kaye said: "The Liberal/National Coalition wants to inflict hundreds of millions of dollars of additional pain on the people of NSW.

"Privatisation of assets like the desalination plant will not magically create extra wealth.

"All it will do is introduce a private sector player who will want to make a profit, inevitably driving up NSW household water bills.

"Privatising the ferries will reduce the quality of service and increase costs.

"Voters looking for relief from NSW Treasurer Eric Roozendaal's grab-for cash sell-off agenda will be bitterly disappointed by Mr O'Farrell's privatisation plans.

"The Opposition Leader has displayed even less concern for the impacts on household water budgets and travel costs. "Barry O'Farrell is lining up with the Keneally government to make the big end of town wealth at the expense of households and small businesses," Dr Kaye said.

For more information: John Kaye 0407 195 455

New report shoots hole in Tillegra

jktemp — 2010-06-10T05:39:35Z

Dr Kaye said: "The report puts Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett and NSW Planning Minister Tony Kelly under even more pressure to reject Tillegra Dam. ('Warning of Tillegra dam threat to wetlands', SMH 10 June, p. 5, http://bit.ly/smh100610)

"If they ignore Professor Kingsford's findings they will knowingly put at risk the future of the estuary, the wetlands and the bird and animal species they sustain, as well as a thriving fishing and prawning industry.

"Hunter Water stands accused of misleading the planning process and the community by understating the impacts of their proposed Dam. "Their modelling has been exposed as entirely inadequate and their conclusions are at best unsafe. "Hunter Water can no longer be trusted.

"Their modelling ignored the impacts on the peak flows that are essential to flushing the salt water and salt out of the estuary of the Hunter River.

"Far from the utility's claim that the impacts will be negligible, Professor Kingsford has exposed the very real danger of species loss if the dam goes ahead.

"The Keneally government must listen to the overwhelming chorus of independent research, the fishing industry and the community, and dump the dam," Dr Kaye said.

For more information: John Kaye 0407 195 455

Cancel Tillegra Dam and spend $477m on necessary projects

jktemp — 2010-06-08T06:36:57Z

Greens NSW MP John Kaye said: "Tillegra is a $477 million drain on the state’s loan capacity.

"Cancelling the project would allow for half a billion dollars worth of important new infrastructure spending.

"Tillegra Dam is completely unnecessary and is heading towards becoming a millstone on the state’s economy.

"Population growth and future droughts in the Lower Hunter can be dealt with by improving water efficiency and adaptive water saving rules.

"These solutions are much cheaper and will not require massive borrowings at the expense of other important infra-structure.

"Hunter Water is pushing ahead with the second most expensive supply option. Only desalination would cost more per kilolitre.

"It is time for the NSW government to impose some economic sense on the water utility and cancel the dam," Dr Kaye said.

For more information: John Kaye 0407 195 455

Sydney’s desalination plant set up for privatisation

jktemp — 2010-06-04T02:34:58Z

Dr Kaye said: “Sydney Water’s application to the regulator for a separate retail licence for the desalination plant is a classic ‘fattening of the lamb before slaughter’.

“It would allow the desalination plant to be operated separately from Sydney Water.

“It would also make the plant much more attractive to a potential purchaser.

“History has shown that Sydney residents should be very concerned about what privatisation means for their water bills and for the environmental impacts of the plant.

“The Keneally government is trying to sneak through the first steps of privatisation without allowing a public debate that would expose the appalling consequences.

“Despite their denials, the only reason for the licence application is to make the plant ready for separation from Sydney Water and more attractive to a private sector buyer.

“Any private sector buyers would be looking for ways to make massive profits from the desalination plant.

“That would mean higher energy consumption, more damage to the marine environment, and, in the long run, a market that delivered higher bills to consumers.

“The Keneally government is taking the first steps towards a private sector water industry.

“Wherever it has happened, bills have gone up, quality of service has declined and the environment has suffered,” Dr Kaye said.

Keneally govt must put Tillegra plans on hold

jfield — 2010-05-19T07:30:35Z

Commenting on the Opposition Leader Barry O'Farrell's comment in today's Newcastle Herald, Dr Kaye said: "The Keneally government is now isolated in its support for the $477 million dam on the Williams River near Dungog.

"The community is very concerned that Hunter Water will sign contracts with construction companies in what is likely to be the dying days of the NSW Labor government.

"By the time the planning process is completed the Keneally government will effectively be in caretaker mode.

"It will lack the moral authority to sign contracts and lock the community and the in-coming government into a dam that is strongly opposed.

"Even by Hunter Water's deeply flawed and biased projections, delaying the dam by six months will make no difference to the long term water security of the Hunter.

"Premier Keneally must step in and put the planning process on hold.

"Her government has no right to lock the community into a dam that is now opposed by the Liberals, the Nationals, the Greens and a growing majority of the community.

"Tillegra is completely unnecessary, expensive and damaging. It will be a $477 million drain on the region's economy," Dr Kaye said.

For more information: John Kaye 0407 195 455

Hunter Water ignores recycling to pump up case for Tillegra

jfield — 2010-05-05T01:25:37Z

Commenting on the release of the National Water Commission's score card report on Australia's water utilities, Dr Kaye said: "Hunter Water has an appalling track record on recycling sewage.

"It has the fourth lowest rate of effluent recycling amongst the 12 large Australian metropolitan supply authorities.

"Instead of squandering money on Tillegra dam or desalination, the Hunter would be much better served by increasing the use of waste water to match national standards. It would be cheaper and better for the environment.

"If Hunter Water matched national best practice, it could boost water security for households and small businesses by taking many industrial consumers off the drinking water supply.

"Hunter Water is more interested in building Tillegra than in boosting its recycling effort.

"By ignoring recycling as a source of water for industrial users, the Corporation is trying to inflate the need for Tillegra.

"Households and the environment are paying for Hunter Water's refusal to look at cheaper and less damaging options," Dr Kaye said.

For more information: John Kaye 0407 195 455